Republicans launch bid to impeach US deputy attorney general

Washington, July 26 (IANS) Republicans have launched a bid to remove the Department of Justice official overseeing the Russia inquiry dogging Donald Trump’s presidency.

House of Representatives conservatives have filed articles of impeachment in an effort to oust Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, BBC reported on Thursday.

The measures were introduced on Wednesday evening by Representatives Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan.

They accuse him of stonewalling their inquiries, which his department denies.

Impeachment would have to be approved by a majority in the House and backed by two-thirds of the US Senate to convict Rosenstein, which makes the plan a long shot.

Within weeks of becoming deputy attorney general in April 2017, Rosenstein found himself in controversy after a memo he wrote was cited as the reason for President Trump’s decision to fire FBI chief James Comey, who was investigating Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 US elections.

Rosenstein then appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to take over the inquiry.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking Democratic officials during the 2016 vote.

Although Rosenstein has said there is no evidence they “altered the vote count or changed any election result”, the announcement came just before Trump’s controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.